Give you an NFT marketing plan that "the boss can understand, and the customer can pay the bill".
Recently, I have read a lot of long articles about how Web3 can help brand marketing, and I have gained a lot. But sharing it with friends who are still working on the front line of the brand, the feedback received is: I still don’t understand it, so you just tell me what to do, how to do it, is there any successful case for reference? Does it work?
This reminds me that for many Web2 marketers, the learning threshold of Web3 is indeed a bit high, with many concepts. Talking too much about the original things of Web3 seems to have become a kind of metaphysics. People are even more afraid to touch it, and they don’t know how to touch it. I heard a lot of content, but when I actually went to the client to make a proposal, it finally became: send an NFT, let’s make an avatar.
Therefore, for traditional marketers, there may still be a need for marketing Web2.5 guidance at the moment: don’t say it’s too deep, don’t say it’s big, just say it’s clear at a glance, so that people who see Web2 don’t think it’s too powerful, but they still feel a little Deja vu - well, isn't this the same set we played back then? It's just a different shell, it's called Web3!
With this feeling, the goal has been achieved - Web2 Web3 is not important, it is still important to sell goods in another place, and it is important to be able to sell goods!
Therefore, in this article, I want to use a very practical way to make a simple guide for everyone.
I hope that after reading this, when reporting to the boss, the boss can understand it; when reporting to the customer, the customer can pay the bill; if you are your own boss, you will also have the motivation to lay out Web3.
Let’s start the first part today, and talk to you about how brands use NFT marketing.
Why do traditional brands need to do NFT marketing?
[New users] Among the NFT audiences, there are new users that brands need to capture
Among the NFT audiences, there are audiences that brands have not been able to reach before - encryption enthusiasts and more and more Generation Z people who are accustomed to participating in the Web3 world; brands can reach more people who were not the audience before through NFT marketing.
【New Ideas】New ideas are needed in the current boring marketing with few new ideas
The existing digital marketing market has entered a dull stage with few new ideas, and the market situation is not optimistic in the general environment, and fresher ideas and content are needed to stimulate consumers.
[New Image] Good NFT marketing can have the effect of brand renewal
The renewal of traditional brands has been explored deeply in the Internet age. The trendy sense of NFT itself and the culture it represents can help brands quickly gain the favor of the Generation Z crowd.
【New Community】In the coming Web3 era, brands need to build a community with more presence
The co-creative nature of the Web3 community has shown its power. In the Web3 era that is already on the road, brands need to break the boundaries between communities and brands, have better communication mechanisms, and have a community atmosphere that can promote communication.
[New Era] The era has moved forward irreversibly, and brands need to try earlier and accumulate experience
Nowadays, many big brands have established Web3 departments or formulated Web3 strategies. On the road of brand + Web3, perhaps it is not a question of "doing it or not", but a question of "doing it sooner or later".
[New growth] NFT marketing can become a new growth point for brands
Brands have the opportunity to use NFT to generate new revenue.
How do traditional brands use NFT marketing?
1) Cooperate with blue-chip / strong label / strong stylized NFT, strong alliance
Cooperate with blue-chip NFT and borrow the strong influence of NFT itself, which can affect both Web3er and general audiences.
Case reference:
With the help of the boring ape #4102 joint marketing, China Lining released clothing with the image of the NFT, and held a flash mob event in Sanlitun; and made many second creations on the image of the boring ape, allowing the boring ape #4102 to wear the same collar as the Olympic champion Award suit, holding a classic shoe box, made into a large statue.
Cooperating with NFT with strong tags can help brands play a greater role in brand marketing for certain special needs.
For example, World of Women, an NFT that has formed very distinctive features, is widely recognized for its feminism, call for tolerance and diversity, and has assembled into a very good community culture. When a brand needs to radiate influence from female users, it is a very good choice to cooperate with NFT organizations like World of Women.
Brands can also express their culture and values by cooperating with strongly stylized NFTs.
Web3 itself has a subversive attribute. Since NFT became popular, we have seen many NFTs with different aesthetics from the past. Many people have asked "Why is such an ugly NFT popular?" Next time, maybe you can Explain to others—because in this new world, people have a desire to subvert past aesthetics and current values.
For example, the mfer stick figure, who seems to be drawing casually, is very unrefined and casual according to the current aesthetics; Aesthetics represents a kind of resistance to the exquisite aesthetics of the past; it is this feeling of desolation that caters to the burnout of the times.
Therefore, brands can also consider how to use the lower-level cultural spirit represented by NFT to design NFT marketing. NFT cooperation similar to mfer can itself represent an attitude.
2) Link NFT with physical goods
Why do you do this?
Many physical products are actually difficult to stimulate users' desire to share. The combination of NFT and physical products can help brands promote new products, and use NFTs that match the sale of products to stimulate users to share on social media. The current sense of fashion and cool attributes of NFT gives consumers an opportunity to make a second display online.
A very simple example, if buying a new GUCCI bag and sending it to Moments seems a bit deliberate, it will become more natural and simple to post the NFT given by the GUCCI entity.
So how to link with physical products?
a. Package sales of physical products and NFT
b. Production of NFT-based independent entity product lines
c. Create an NFT version of the physical product
d. Use NFT as a physical product exchange voucher
a. Package sales of physical products and NFT
This shouldn't need much explanation, let's go straight to the case.
Case reference:
In mid-January 2022, Gap collaborated with artist Brandon Sines to launch an NFT bundled hoodie. The physical objects are limited to 100 sets, which are divided into four levels: common, rare, epic and unique. This has also become the most limited edition clothing in the history of GAP.
b. Production of NFT-based independent entity product lines
—— Develop joint products with NFT holders
This is a relatively routine operation. For details, please refer to the cooperation between Li Ning and Boring Ape mentioned above.
—— NFT holders build derivative brands
Because holders of NFT have the corresponding commercial development rights of NFT, based on this commercial development right, you can develop corresponding products. The well-known NFT itself has a strong potential for viral transmission, which directly has a brand effect and reduces the cost of customer acquisition.
Case reference:
Although the public's first impression of BAYC (Boring Ape) is that celebrities change their avatars, it actually brings an innovation that affects the entire NFT ecosystem-IP commercial authorization. Based on this, a large number of BAYC holders have developed nearly 80 derivative brands based on BAYC IP, including fashion brands, music, fashion games, food, beverages, skateboards, basketball, clubs, podcasts, games, etc.
The article "Yuga Labs' IP Empire: Nearly 80 Brands, Creators, Projects and Artists" written by Forj CEO Harry Liu provides a very comprehensive introduction to these 80 IPs.
(Refer to "Three Questions to Create the Soul of a Web3 Brand: Why, What, How?" Author: Star's Decentralized Brief)
Some specific cases are also shared below.
Restaurateur Andy Nguyen spent nearly $387,000 on a bored ape and two mutant apes to decorate the store's burger boxes, fry racks and drink cups, opening the world's first "bored ape" themed restaurant Bored & Hungry. It was originally planned to be a pop-up store for a few months, but due to the booming business, it has become a long-term store.
The employees of Kley, a studio in Los Angeles, love coffee. It happened that some employees held the NFT of the boring ape, so they created the "boring breakfast club" and used the "boring ape" IP to provide coffee subscription services to fans. This project also has a very interesting gameplay. They released 5,000 NFTs of the breakfast scene of the boring ape character. Consumers who buy NFTs automatically get coffee subscription membership. Ordinary consumers can place an order on the official website to purchase coffee beans and peripheral products, but only NFT holders can regularly receive coffee beans (subscription service) and purchase specially customized coffee products.
c. Create an NFT version of the physical product
Separately create NFT based on physical products for sale
Case reference: Gucci, the first fashion brand to release its own NFT, launched a fashion movie NFT inspired by the Aria series on the occasion of its centenary. The starting price was $2,000, and the final transaction price reached $25,000, which is the starting price more than 10 times.
Second creation of NFT based on physical products for sale
Here is an idea to share:
Many traditional brands have actually done a lot of product iterations. For example, Coca-Cola has produced many versions of bottle designs. And these past designs carry not only the value of the brand, but also the user's emotion for time and regional life.
Brands can design and create these past physical products as NFTs for sale, allowing users to use NFTs to retain products that have disappeared in time.
d. Use NFT as a physical exchange voucher
In traditional marketing, "Mid-Autumn Mooncake Coupons" and "Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab Coupons" are released every year. Brands can also refer to similar methods and use NFT as future physical coupons.
Case reference:
Patrón is Bacardi's premium tequila brand. In January 2022, Patrón launched its first NFT. Each NFT corresponds to a rare and exclusive Chairman's Reserve physical wine - only 150 bottles in total, and NFT owners have the right to redeem the corresponding tequila physical wine at any time. Each corresponding NFT sells for 1.5 ETH (equivalent to about $4,500). The physical tequila is stored in an undisclosed location in Singapore with 24/7 security, outside motion detection and temperature control.
This method of NFT sale can actually be applied to all items with high exchange value: wine, tea, gold jewelry and so on. For domestic traditional old brands, Moutai, Chow Tai Fook, etc. may refer to this method for a wave of marketing to rejuvenate their brands.
To sum up, when NFT becomes a carrier and brands can endow various entities with rights and interests through NFT, in fact, everyone can completely put aside NFT and open up their imagination. Whether it is a restaurant issuing NFT to grant the rights to reserve a seat, or a music festival to issue NFT to grant the rights to VIP stands, or holding NFT to join high-level members and face-to-face with the founder... NFT is available, and the rest depends on brand people It's up to me to play.
3) NFT as a member pass card
Brands can use NFT as an entrance for membership incentives-owning NFT, they can enjoy unique physical rights.
Endow NFT with more member rights-maybe you may ask, isn’t this just changing the point system? But when the traditional membership system has become a rather boring exchange of points for money, and it seems that there are not so many benefits, everyone has become less and less concerned about the so-called brand membership - NFT pass card may be to attract everyone to pay attention to members again An opportunity for equity.
Case reference:
The action of Starbucks is basically a similar operation method.
In the past two days, Starbucks announced their Starbucks Odyssey plan. Starbucks will set each NFT with a rare point value, which can be traded on Starbucks’ own market. Benefits/experiences include: virtual espresso martini making courses; Starbucks Reserve Roasteries activities; Costa Rica Starbucks coffee farm tour, etc.
At the same time, in order to reduce the learning cost of on-chain operations for ordinary audiences, Starbucks allows users to use legal tender to directly trade NFTs on its market.
We have also observed that compared to the original method of redeeming discount points for members, the benefits of brand NFT look more unique, rich and high-end - we can refer to the case of Prada for similar operations:
Prada launched a new Timecapsule NFT series. The new series will provide unique activities and experiences for Timecapsule holders in the "Prada Crypted" Discord community, such as participating in the Prada show in Milan and getting an exclusive invitation to participate in the brand fashion show in September.
In addition, the brand can also set up different levels of NFT rights and interests in terms of specific gameplay, which is not fundamentally different from the platinum and silver cards in the past.
So can the original membership brand be converted into NFT like Starbucks?
We feel it is necessary.
For this point, we can refer to Star's Decentralized Brief's point of view in the article↓
Converting membership cards to NFT has the following benefits, including 3 user-side and 1 brand-side benefits:
User Perspective 1: Enhancing Rights and Interests
As a web3 brand, users are investors, and member clubs must guarantee high-quality rights and interests, which are consistent with the interests of users; active participation of users also enhances brand value, forming a win-win situation.
User Perspective 2: Enhancing the transaction liquidity and value of membership cards
Traditional membership cards are difficult to trade second-hand. After becoming an NFT, it will bring a natural trading market and liquidity, thereby enhancing the asset value of the membership card itself.
User Perspective 3: Obtain Personalized Identity
Incarnate as a unique digital identity to express your personality and as a passport to the metaverse. Membership cards are not necessarily static. Well-designed traits can grow with users and have special effects, increasing user stickiness.
Brand Perspective: Expanding the Depth and Breadth of Users
Based on the data and behaviors on the chain, on the one hand, it has a more comprehensive understanding of existing users (user A holds 5 NFTs), and on the other hand, it is easier to reach incremental users (users in a certain community are especially suitable for this brand).
In the way of NFT as a member pass card, there is actually a lot of room for imagination, including using poap to record consumers' participation in activities, using PFP avatars to allow consumers to make personalized displays, show identity, and so on.
At the moment, perhaps what we need to explore more is how to make the membership system have a smooth experience after being chained, and at the same time, allow NFT to play more tricks as a membership card within the scope allowed by the policy.
4) NFT+ games create more gameplay for brands
NFT+ games are also a good idea. Whether it is a brand making its own game, formulating game rules, or creating a brand area in an existing virtual game community, it is a way to expand more gameplay.
Case reference:
Gucci has cooperated with the game platform Roblox to create a permanent virtual world "Gucci Town" on Roblox. Despite being open for only two weeks, the Gucci Garden has more than 20 million visits.
The Gucci store in the town sells clothing including tops, skirts, sweatshirts, jackets, etc. After gamers buy and wear them, they can achieve the same wearing effect as in reality. In addition to buying clothes, the experience of the game itself is also rich enough: visitors can earn double G gems through competitions, create works of art, and learn the brand's historical heritage and craftsmanship. When participating in activities in Gucci Town, visitors can also use the currency in the town to purchase props and Gucci clothing.
5) Second Empowerment of NFT - Cultivate Brand Loyalty
In this regard, we can refer to the original NFT ecological gameplay:
BAYC Boring Ape airdrops Ape tokens to NFT holders, and Azuki airdrops 2 Something NFTs to holders. Both of these airdrops brought great benefits to NFT holders, and at the same time gave NFT itself a very high reputation.
In fact, the brand can also refer to this secondary empowerment method. After the NFT is sold, consumers who own the brand NFT can obtain the previously unpromised second-stage benefits.
Use secondary empowerment to create more benefits for consumers who own NFT and cultivate brand loyalty; at the same time, it also creates topics for the brand in this way.
6) Use NFT for brand community building
The social media of the Internet has created a two-way communication channel for brands and consumers, and the NFT community-style brand community may become the next wave of new communication channels.
Brands can build online brand communities through NFT.
a. to communicate
The NFT community actually has better and more natural communication attributes. Brands can use NFT to build new communication channels, and build their own new camps and communities through NFT.
This point, if you have played in the NFT Discord community / or domestic consensus NFT projects, you may be more aware of it. These communities, built due to their own consensus and love, are more active, and the tap water flow and spontaneous communication within the community will be richer. Compared with traditional WeChat public accounts/Weibo/Xiaohongshu/traditional advertisements, these communities have a higher degree of participation, no longer "I say", but "everyone say together". Compared with foreign platforms, Discord, Reddit or Telegram have greatly improved the interactivity of communication compared with traditional corporate communication social media platforms (such as Facebook/YouTube).
This NFT-style community opens up a playability for brands. For example, the AMA activities/meme expression creation often held by the NFT community and so on.
The NFT community can be an amplifier of brand marketing.
Case reference:
"Time" is a very typical example. They have established an independent Web3 department and operate the community in a very Web3 way of "community + values + culture priority".
The operation of "Time" has already achieved initial results. Their Discord is very active, and they hold daily games, challenges and even private rooms for NFT holders on Discord to showcase the brand to Gen Z readers.
b. Create a brand story
Brands can use the NFT community to allow community members to start secondary creation around the brand image or brand story.
Based on NFT, NFT avatars or characters are used to develop stories/construct world views-this is a very common practice in the traditional NFT community.
Brands can change from writing their own stories in the past to allowing consumers to build stories together in the community.
For example: build a framework in the community, and the brand official will announce activities with different chapters and different themes: each chapter has a different gameplay, or a short story composition written by consumers, or a treasure hunt, or a cosplay of the brand image ; Let consumers get some physical or virtual rewards while doing tap water content.
Similar activities may be in traditional brand marketing, and we have seen similar actions. However, the community culture of the NFT community itself may allow consumers to participate naturally or be motivated to join. Secondly, although the number of active users in the NFT community is still smaller than that of more traditional social media platforms, they have shown a higher participation rate in the community. This high degree of participation also opens up new possibilities for brand co-building.
c. Greater imagination - Brand DAO
DAO may still have some threshold for those who are not familiar with Web3, but DAO has become a very hot concept at the end of last year.
DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization, a new way of collaborative organization. We can simply understand it as an upgraded form of the community, but compared with a community, DAO has a clearer cultural identity and spiritual core, and more technical means and governance methods allow people in the community to work together and create value.
This new concept may also be an opportunity for the brand. If the brand can finally operate its own community in the form of a DAO, the brand may gain more self-reliant followers, and these brand followers will jointly build the brand with the brand, forming a win-win situation.
It’s time to act on NFT marketing
At present, we see that many brands have tried some NFT marketing methods. But I have to say that after studying many cases at home and abroad, we can see that the thinking of most brands is still on how to use the popularity of NFT to hype and treat NFT as a marketing event, and there is no understanding of the logic and logic of Web3. In-depth understanding of culture.
However, we believe that it is time for brands to make long-term plans and in-depth research on NFT and Web3. NFT marketing must not be a one-shot deal. The new world of Web3 requires brand people to look at it with a longer-term perspective.
Just like the article "Wanzi Longwen: How Web3 and Brands Promote the Next Bull Market?" "In that way:
"Today's Web3+ brand is like the impact of e-commerce on traditional entities back then. This does not mean that traditional brands will disappear, but will become a new brand industry model. Today's e-commerce has seized many traditional retail sales more than ten years ago. Market share. Web3+ brands will seize as many market shares as traditional brands or even exceed. Thanks to the well-developed Internet to build network infrastructure, the cycle of this brand revolution for Web3+ brands will not last as long as 10 years, and may be as short as 10 years. It took a few years to complete the shaping of the market structure.”
Therefore, there are two suggestions for the layout of the brand in NFT/Web3:
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long-term strategy
Brands need to gradually deepen their understanding of Web3 culture, and formulate long-term Web3 long-term strategies on the basis of in-depth understanding.
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perpetuation of education
Brand decision makers need to conduct long-term Web3 education within the team from top to bottom, so that decision makers understand the importance of Web3 strategy, so that every brand person involved in different links such as strategy, creativity, design, etc. Know and understand, and be able to play with Web3.